Maybe some telcos, but not all... When SWBell (sorry, "SBC") bought PacBell, I remember reading that SWBell was the "most profitable of the Baby Bells." So, considering SWBell's buying craze and the aforementioned statement, one could reasonably assume that SWBell has a competitive business plan. Let's examine SWBell's local POTS offerrings: . Flat rate per month, large local calling area In Houston, my local calling area (for a *normal* phone line) was over 75 miles in diameter. This was for $17/mo. Dallas has a similar calling area. There is no charge of any kind for local calls. . Flat rate per month, bigger local calling area In Dallas, I can subscribe to a "metro line", which adds the entire Ft. Worth calling area to my already large Dallas calling area. This is for a mere $8/mo, and works both ways (people in Ft. Worth can call me local too). . Flat rate per month, massive local calling area In either city, I also have the option of getting "local plus" service, which gives me a local calling area of about 1/4 of Texas, which is a staggering thought (for POTS service). This is for around $25/mo over the regular rate. And let's not forget the cell/PCS carriers, which charge no long distance intra-state, and some are no longer charging inter-state either. In fact, my PCS phone is so cheap (for ALL calls), I am on the verge of cancelling my POTS line. Then again, some of you don't have the good sense to live in Texas :) Stephen Sez Tim Salo:
It should also be noted that the phone companies have trying to eliminate unmetered (on the basis of time) local phone service. I believe that there are fewer and fewer areas with unmetered (based on time) local phone service.
So, I think a closer examination of your example may yield a different result.
-- Stephen Sprunk, KD5DWP "Oops." Email: sprunk@paranet.com Sprint Paranet -Albert Einstein ICBM: 33.00151N 96.82326W